Observation of adsorption-induced luminescence in porous silicon

The adsorption-induced luminescence of porous silicon has been observed with ozone molecules as an adsorbent. It is shown that adsorbing ozone molecules excite the same oscillators in porous silicon just as absorbing photons in the photoluminescence. The ozone adsorption strongly increases photoluminescence efficiency up to 50%. It is assuming that the Pb centers on the top of Si nanocrystallites act as adsorption centers for ozone molecules. Electron–hole pairs in Si crystallites are generated when adsorbing ozone molecules dissociate at the Pb centers. q1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.